If you can't buy it...build it!

This idea has been floating around in my head for a long time...I don't know why I waited so long because it literally took about an hour to make.

As you probably know, I consider myself a "bottle baby". No, not this kind:




This kind:



I do about 95% of my cookie decorating with these bottles...same consistency for both piping and flooding. You could probably call me lazy, but I like to think of it as "creative genius"...not only is this faster it is a lot less mess and therefore less cleanup! Who doesn't appreciate that, right?

Anyhoo, to keep the pace moving it is extremely important that your icing is always at the "top" of the bottle (which when icing, is on the bottom...clear as mud?) To do that I usually have several drinking glasses that hold a damp paper towel (to keep the tip for clogging) lined up on my counter...not cool and definitely more cleanup when done decorating!

I wanted something that would hold all of my bottles, neatly in a row, upside down so that the icing was always ready to "flow". Couldn't buy such a thing so I decided to build my own. I went to Lowe's and purchased one single piece of wood for about $2.50 (it measured about 3 1/2 inches x 26 inches). I cut two pieces off to make the "legs" and drilled holes the perfect size to fit my bottles (about 2 1/2 inches apart). I made mine to hold 8 bottles...I RARELY use more than that when decorating, but you could definitely drill more holes if you wanted. I use a clean damp towel rolled up below it to keep my tips from drying out. Mine is painted black because I already had the paint and was anxious to get it done. VOILA!



Whatch'a think?

I just started working on Easter cookies and have a fun "Princess themed" birthday order coming up later this week! I also have a cute ABC Project that I will be starting soon as well!

See ya soon...happy baking~






There's a skinny girl who lives inside of me that's screaming to get out...I can usually shut her up with cookies!

Flowers and Owls!

As I have stated before, sometimes I bake just to bake! This would be one of those times...sort of! I have a wonderful "cyber" friend that has had sort of a rough week, so what better way to cheer her up than to send her some cookies! I also promised someone samples of my cookies so if you happen to be reading my blog today girls...check your mail boxes!

When this "no special occasion" baking occurs, I usually rummage through my 400+ cookie cutters and make whatever jumps out at me. This time though, I knew I wanted to make owls....hmmmmm, what goes with owls? Flowers were the only thing that I could think of so flowers it was! Even my color palette was not typical of owl colors but I already had this "pink" for some flamingos that I had made earlier in the week (sorry no pic of those) so I added more icing and paired it with brown...I actually love the outcome!



Whatcha' think? Would you mind finding these in YOUR mailbox? Enjoy girls!

Be sure and check back next week...lots of Easter ideas running through my head and I can't wait to share them with you!

Till then...have a great weekend and Happy Baking!


There's a skinny girl who lives inside of me that's screaming to get out...I can usually shut her up with cookies!

It's finally SPRING!

It is totally ironic that yesterday was finally the first day of spring and it rained all day here in sunny AZ...you would have never known that it was 85 degrees a few days ago. I don't know how I lived in northwest for the first 45 years of my life...it was such a depressing day! Anyhoo, the sunshine is supposed to be back today and I can't wait!

Before my sister's arrived I wanted to make some cookies to have in the cake plate on the counter...it was a little to early to think about Easter and I wasn't really in the mood to make flowers so I chose a fruit platter....I mean who doesn't enjoy a good piece of fruit, right?! This is what I came up with:



Whatcha' think? Do you have a favorite? I personally, love the watermelon slices and they make my mouth water thinking about having a slice of the real thing! Yummmmmm!

Till then...happy baking!






There's a skinny girl who lives inside of me that's screaming to get out...I can usually shut her up with cookies!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A quick little post today!

First, as you can see from my little ticker---->, I had a huge (for me, anyway) weight loss this past weigh in. I can't give all the credit to my eating, although I did not cheat. I was a little under the weather and did not consume many calories last weekend...I suspect a slight gain next Monday. We have family from out of town and even though I plan to stay on track...we all know how that goes!

Now for a few St. Patrick's Day cookies. I was "lucky" enough to have an order for three of these boxes...thanks, Monica! They are all similar to the ones that I showed before, except I added a few "green" beer mugs!



Check back in a few days...I made a little "fruit platter" for my guests to eat while they are here!

Till then...Happy Baking~

There's a skinny girl who lives inside of me that's screaming to get out...I can usually shut her up with cookies!

Thirty one years ago today...

I was in the hospital giving birth to my oldest daughter, Melissa. Seriously people, where does the freakin' time go?! Knowing that I have a child that old makes me feel, well....OLD. Next time you look at your little ones, look AGAIN, because before you know it they are grown up with kids of their own! Happy Birthday, Miff!

I know it has been a while since I have showed you cookies, but I really have not had a reason to bake any. This weekend however, that changes...I have 3 different St. Patrick's Day boxes that have to go out on Monday, so I will baking and decorating my heart out!

You can see from my ticker---->, that I am still going to WW and you can also see that the journey is a slow one. I try to tell myself that the slower it comes off, the slower I will gain it back...not that I plan on doing that of course, just sayin'...

So, I said yesterday I will post pics of my craft room...how ironic that now that I have it completely done, I rarely use it anymore. For those of you that don't know, I used to be a big paper crafter...first a scrapbooker, then a cardmaker and then a stamper...I haven't done any of these things in a very long time. I probably spend the most time sewing in there now, making some more aprons that I will share next week.

As I was taking the pictures, I realized that I had refinished every piece of furniture in this room EXCEPT the sewing machine table, which was my Mother's. This was not planned, it just sort of evolved!

So for anyone that might be interested, feel free to take a walk on my wild side...sorry about the small pictures, just click on them to enlarge.









Can I just say that I love the transformation on these two tables. I don't think I posted "befores" on these, but they were light oak and desperately in need of some lovin'! I picked up each these tables for about $25. Love the stained wood on top with the black legs!











Fun fact: This is the sign you face while sitting on the toilet...yes, I have a very twisted sense of humor but it still makes me laugh every time I see it!



And since I am sure you are wondering if I actually take showers in my craft room, I do not...but that is valuable space and the curtain hides this mess perfectly!



There you have it...that's as wild as it gets for me! Thanks for stopping by, next week I promise to have more cookies to share! Till then...happy baking!




There's a skinny girl who lives inside of me that's screaming to get out...I can usually shut her up with cookies!

Disclaimer!

Okay, as promised I am back today to reveal my table redo. I realize that after my little kitchen, everything else is going to pale in comparison...NOT because I did such a great job on it, but let's be real, it was a kitchen after all! This is just a little table redone to hold a boring TV. THAT is my disclaimer...carry on!

I had to keep it simple...this table was old and made from what almost appeared to be scrap wood. No fancy paint job could be done because I could not sand down far enough to get to anything decent enough to work with! So it was black paint and wrapping paper, of all things!

You remember the before:



And here she is all done:








The drawer was just not working with paint alone. Because the drawer was wider than 12 inches, I was not able to use just a sheet of scrapbook paper (which was my first thought). In case you didn't know, Hobby Lobby has a great selection of everyday gift wrap and they had several black and white patterns that I could choose from. This paper is quite thick and perfect for Mod Podging (although I prefer a project called "Perfect Paper"...works so much better for me!). Better yet, I have a ton left over to wrap my daughter's birthday presents tomorrow!

Cost breakdown:

Table $10
Paint $4
Paper $3
Hardware $2

Total Cost $19

So whatcha' think?

This room is now done...finito, complete! Maybe tomorrow I will post pics of the whole room...it has certainly been a work in progress!

Till then...happy baking!






There's a skinny girl who lives inside of me that's screaming to get out...I can usually shut her up with cookies!

Don't worry...beeeee happy!

This is what a little extra dough and a lot of extra time will get ya! I thought I would share a little of this beautiful spring weather we have had (yes, I am aware that it is not quite spring....but our 80 degree temps suggest otherwise)! What says "spring" more than bees and flowers?!




If I were being completely honest, I will say that these looked much cuter "in my head" than they looked once they were done...but I know that my grand babies will love them...since they were both sick last week, it has been a while since they have had some of Nana's cookies so they should be thrilled!

Be sure to check back in the next couple of days for a little table I redid...I desperately needed a stand of some sort to put my TV on in my craft room. To say that this piece was a "little rustic" was putting it mildly, but I am happy to say it is the LAST piece of furniture needed to complete that room! Here is a little sneak peek of what it looked like before:



Pretty "primitive", huh?! You wouldn't even recognize her now! Till then...happy baking!




There's a skinny girl who lives inside of me that's screaming to get out...I can usually shut her up with cookies!

Luck of the Irish!

Well, first let me say that yesterday was "weigh in" day and as you can see from my little ticker over there ----->, I had a little more success last week. No great milestone, but we are getting there one small step at a time!

So for those of you that painfully sit through the show "The Bachelor"...I give you credit. My daughter Kelli, and some of her friends have "Bachelor Night" every Monday...they take turns cooking dinner then watch this (awful) show after! I don't consider myself a prude, but watching this guy play kissy, kissy with one girl while professing his love for another, is mind boggling to me! Why I didn't go to one of the other 5 TV's in this house and watch some good ol' HGTV, is beyond me! So what does this have to do with cookies, you ask...well, I am going to tell you!

Two of the girls, Brannigan and Angela #1 (yes, there is a #2 as well), unbeknown to me, have an undying love for my gingerbread cookies. Typically, I only make gingerbread at Christmas...I always thought that was the "rule", I guess. Anyhoo, they requested them for dessert, so what's a cookier to do?!

I have been wanting to make some St. Patrick's Day cookies, so even though they seemed like a Christmas cookie to me, they were in fact, a St. Patrick's Day cookie on Monday night! This is what I came up with:






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There's a skinny girl who lives inside of me that's screaming to get out...I can usually shut her up with cookies!